Demonstrations as an essential component of the democratic system
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26418/jppkn.v6i2.99441Keywords:
Democracy, Demonstration, Legal PhilosophyAbstract
Democracy, as a system of government based on popular sovereignty, places freedom of expression as a fundamental right of every citizen. One tangible manifestation of this right is demonstrations, which serve as an essential means of channeling public aspirations toward government policies. This study aims to analyze the role of demonstrations as an essential element in strengthening Indonesia"™s democratic system. The research employs a normative juridical method with a legal-philosophical and literature-based approach. The findings indicate that demonstrations play a strategic role in balancing the relationship between state authority and public participation while reinforcing democratic legitimacy. However, demonstrations often create tension between freedom of expression and public order, necessitating proportional legal regulations grounded in substantive justice. Drawing on the theories of John Stuart Mill, John Locke, and Gustav Radbruch, demonstrations should ideally be conducted peacefully, rationally, and responsibly to maintain harmony between citizens"™ rights and the public interest. Therefore, demonstrations must be regarded not as a threat but as a vital pillar of constitutional democracy in IndonesiaReferences
Alifianto, A. H., Chrisari, B. V., Rato, D., & Setyawan, F. (2024). Implementation of the Legal Justice Concept in Indonesia: Study of John Locke’s Perspective. Rechtenstudent, 5(1), 26–35. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.35719/rch.v5i1.321
Amnesty International Indonesia. (2025). Jangan Bungkam Protes Masyarakat kepada DPR dan Pemerintah. https://www.amnesty.id/kabar-terbaru/siaran-pers/jangan-bungkam-protes-masyarakat-kepada-dpr-dan-pemerintah/08/2025/?utm_soure
Budiarjo, M. (2005). Dasar-Dasar Ilmu Politik. Gramedia Pustaka Utama.
Diana, Matheus, J., & Nugroho, H. I. (2024). Quo Vadis the Jakarta Special Regional Bill: Ideal Design Based on Constitutional Law Prespective. Journal of Constitutional and Governance Studies, 1(1), 20–37. https://doi.org/10.20885/JCGS.vol1.iss1.art2
Efriza. (2023). Ilmu Politik: Dari Ilmu Politik Sampai Sistem Pemerintahan. Alfabeta.
Febriansyah, G., & Khamid, A. (2025). Kebijakan Negara terhadap Demonstrasi Mahasiswa: Pelanggaran HAM dalam Perspektif Hukum dan Sosial. Jurnal Ilmiah Nusantara, 2(5), 941–948. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.61722/jinu.v2i5.5631
Hasan, F. (2021). Apologia: Pidato Socrates yang Diabadikan Plato. Bulan Bintang.
Hendratno, E. T. (2023). Negara Kesatuan, Desentralisasi dan Federalisme. Graha Ilmu.
Kansil, C. S. ., & Nadilatasya, P. M. (2024). Dampak Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Terhadap Dinamika Politik dan Kepercayaan Publik di Indonesia: Analisis Implikasi Hukum dan Etika. UNES Law Review, 6(4), 10753–10760. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.31933/unesrev.v6i4.2039
Lijphart, A. (2024). DEMOCRACIES: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consensus Government in Twenty One Countries. Yale University Press.
Muabezi, Z. A. (2017). Negara Berdasarkan Hukum (Rechtsstaat) Bukan Kekuasaan (Machtstaat). Jurnal Hukum Dan Peradilan, 6(3), 421–446. https://doi.org/10.25216/jhp.6.3.2017.421-446
Mubarok, H. (2018). Demokrasi, Politik Identitas, dan Kohesi Sosial: Peluang dan Tantangan Strategi Dakwah untuk Menghalau Provokasi Politik di Indonesia. Jurnal Bimas Islam, 11(2), 365–400. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.37302/jbi.v11i2.57
Muthmainnah, L. (2023). ANALISIS FILSAFAT HUKUM ATAS GERAKAN PEMBANGKANGAN SIPIL DALAM KONTEKS MASYARAKAT DEMOKRASI MODERN. Jurnal Filsafat Indonesia, 6(3), 316–327. https://doi.org/10.23887/jfi.v6i3.55610
Rudyat, C. (2020). Kamus Hukum. Pustaka Mahadika.
Samekto, A. (2020). Pergeseran Pemikiran Hukum dari Era Yunani Menuju Postmodernisme. Konstitusi Pers.
Sri Soemantri. (2023). Tentang Lembaga-Lembaga Negara Menurut UUD 1945. Citra Aditya Bakti.
Tim detikNews. (2024). MK Hapus Pasal Sebar Hoaks dan Bikin Onar. DetikBali. https://www.detik.com/bali/hukum-dan-kriminal/d-7253976/mk-hapus-pasal-sebar-hoaks-dan-bikin-onar
Tjahjadi, S. P. L. (2022). Petualangan Intelektual (Konfrontasi dengan Para Filsuf dari Zaman Yunani Hingga Zaman Modern). Kanisius.
Wertheim, W. F. (2022). Masyarakat Indonesia dalam Transisi: Studi Perubahan Sosial (M. Z. Elizabeth (ed.)). Tiara Wacana.
Zain, Z. M., & Yusoff, M. A. (2020). Civil Disobedience: Concept and Practice, Asian Social Science, Vol. 13 No. 8 Tahun 2020. Asian Social Science, 13(8), 129–134. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v13n8p129
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Jurnal Pendidikan PKN (Pancasila dan Kewarganegaraan)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors submit manuscript to the Jurnal Pendidikan PKn
- Authors certify that the work reported here has not been published before and contains no materials the publication of which would violate any copyright or other personal or proprietary right of any person or entity.
- Authors transfer or license the copyright of publishing to Jurnal Pendidikan PKn to publish the article in any media format, to share, to disseminate, to index, and to maximize the impact of the article in any databases.
- Authors hereby agree to transfer a copyright for publishing to Jurnal Pendidikan PKn as a Publisher of the manuscript.
- Authors reserve the following:
- all proprietary rights other than copyright such as patent rights;
- the right to use all or part of this article in future works of our own such as in books and lectures;
- use for presentation in a meeting or conference and distributing copies to attendees;
- use for internal training by author's company;
- distribution to colleagues for their research use;
- use in a subsequent compilation of the author's works;
- inclusion in a thesis or dissertation;
- reuse of portions or extracts from the article in other works (with full acknowledgement of final article);
- preparation of derivative works (other than commercial purposes) (with full acknowledgement of final article); and
- voluntary posting on open web sites operated by author or author"™s institution for scholarly purposes, but it should follow the open access license of Creative Common CC BY-NC License.